Rubber footwear



R. 8. PRICE.

RUBBER FOOTWEAR.

APPUCATIUN FILED OCT-2L 1914' 1,309,047. Patented J my 8, 1919.

3 SHlzETS-SHEET I.

R. B. PRICE. RUBBER FOOTWEAR. APPLICATION FILED on. 22. m4.

Patented J Ill) 8, 1919.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3- nue whoz jzaymorzifllr'ice,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RAYMOND B. PRICE, OF NEW YORK, H. Y., ASSIGNOBJ. BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,TO' THE GGOIDYEARS METALLIC RUBBER SHOE COMPANY OF NAUGATUCK,CONNECTICUT,

A CORPORATION CONNECTICUT.

RUBBER FOOTWEAR.

1,309,047. Original application filed December 30,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RAYMOND B. PRICE, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, county and State of New York, have invented newand Improved Rubber Fool Wear, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description.

Specification of Letters Patent.

. The; presentinveution relates to a new and iinproved article offootwear composed of rubber andfabric disclosed in my prior applicationfiled December 30, 1911, 'Serial No. 668,791, of which the presentapplication is a division. The object of this irwention is to rovide arubber boot or shoe of any style in which the various layers of fabricand rub bar are united more firmly has heretofore been possible with thesame 668,791 and which is materials and in various layers to the boot orshoe a much wearer or tvireen the boot which pared with the refer to theor many process of manufacinvention which 7 said application which theadhesion of the to each other is of the same degree of strengththroughout the entire -surface. The invention also provides a boot orshoe in which the interior surface is perfectly smooth. along theabutting edges of the various portions of the lining and varia tions inthe thickness of the wall of the boot or shoe appear in marked degree onthe outside and not at all on the inside. This latter feature (as wellasthe former) gives better wearing uality in that there are noprojections on the inside .ofthe boot which afi'ord initial means of ena ement with the foot of the .t e case of an overshoe with the or maleather shoe.

The artic e of rubber foot-wear disclosed my said prior ap licationSerial No. tlie subject of this ap plication for'patent is 1 reduced bythe process set forthin my sai prior ap lication.

To explain more fully the di erence beisthe subject of my inatentcomvention and this application for esirable to rior art, it is shoes aspractised before the is the subject of my afore for Letters Patent. Theor.- dinary process was as follows: The various rubber elements going tomake up asho'e were sheeted out to proper thickness and then cut toproper size and turing boots and and durably than M or shoe so built updepends u on the time shape. The

roller Patented July 8, 1919.

1911, Serial No. 868,791. Divided and this application filed October 28,181A. Serial No. 867,950.

well known in the art), and then the fabric with the coating of rubberwas cut to the desired size and shape. A suitable last was then takenand the various elements applied to the last or form in roper ositionand sequence and the adhesion of t e various portions, of the boot orshoe was secured by pressure applied by the manipulation of a handy askilled workman. After the finalformation of the boot or shoe on thelast, the last cart in the boot or shoe, was placed in a suita le eaterand vulcanized. The union of the various portions of a boot and care andskill of the wor man in the rolling down process. If the roller could beused with the application of the proper amount of pressure and uniformlythroughout the entire surface the maximum efliciency in wearing qualitywould be obtained, provided of course the quality of the materials usedis appropriate and the vulcanizing process is correct. But no matter howskil fully the boot or shoe may be made by such a lprocess it isimpossible to obtain uniform a( esion throughout the entire area of thearticle. This is easily demonstrated by taking a boot or shoe so madeand separating the various plies. If the lining of a rubber boot bestripped from the adjacent layer of rubber the marks of the roller willbe plainly seen on the surface sf the fabric lining and the opposedsurface of the rubber, and where the ressure of the roller has been exrted a mar ed difference is apparent fromwhere very little or nopressure has been exerted, an moreover, the fabric plies strip from eachother with varying or unequal resistance. i

In a boot or shoe made according to. my invention on the other hand, theprocess of manufacture may be the same as-is common in the art uassociating the .various elements of fa ric and rubber-on the last togive the desired formation; and; eventhis: rtion of: the process maybthe same. that the workman may associate the various to the point ofbuildin or r this I me ns the last or form, it is vulcanized in aportions of fabric on the last'and rub them Into contact with his rollintool just as in the old method, but this rol ing or pressing action isnot essential. Instead of this latter action, the various elements offabric and rubber may be simply laid in position on thelast and norolling applied to effect adhesion of the various layers, although inpractice a slight ap lication of the rolling process is given. ffter theboot or shoe is built oln ecu iar-manner, which is fully set forth indetail in my said ap lication, the essential feature of which is t at afluid ressure is applied to the outer surface of t ie boot or shoe whilesupported on the last, and this pressure is permitted to effect itsmaximum efficiency by establishing a communication upon the inside ofthe article, either through the last or otherwise, with a fluid pressurelower than that exerted on the outer surface. The usual and ordinarypractice is to make the last or form with perforations and communicatesuch perforations with a vacuum producing apparatus so that there isexerted on the inner surface of the article a sucking action, and on theoutside a pressure.

In a boot or shoe so made the various ers-of rubber and fabric adhere toeach tlier with much greater tenacity than is the case with a boot orshoe made by the old rocess, and moreover, no matter how the ot or shoemay have been built up, whether by simply laying the ,various elementsin position or by rolling do'wn after they have ecn laid in position, animportant factor producing the adhesion or union of the various layersis the-pressurev applied to the outside of the article operating againsta lower pressure, or a vacuum, on the inside of the article. shoe mayhave been built, after it has been vulcanized in this manner theadhesion of the various elements is of greatly improved strength, and isuniform throughout every. -1Z ortion of the area. Upon strippin variouslayers of such a bootpractlcal y no .rolling marks are visible, but onthe other the hand the appearance is substantially uniform throughoutevery portion of the sur face. Additionally, the inner surface of theboot or shoe when made on a smooth last (as is the universal practice)is correspondingly smooth; and lapping or abutting joints do not affectthis smooth character of the inside surface. On the other hand, the lapsand inequalities of thickness of the wall of the boot or shoe ap car onthe outside of the article with we 1' defined. clearness. In a boot orshoe so made and characterized by the uniform adhesion of the variouslayers, which means that the adhesion is of maximum efficiency, asdistinguished from a boot .or shoe having various degrees of adhesivequalities in various portions of its well as No matter how the boot oris emphasized in and Fig. 2 is a ongitudinal section of the foot portionof a boot made according to old methods;

Fig. 3 is a similar view of the foot portion of a boot embodying myinvention;

Fig. 4 is a view of a portion of the leg of a boot showing the outerlayer of rubber partially stripped from the supporting layer of fabricand illustratin the appearance of the parts in a boot made according toold methods, while Fig. 5 is a similar view illustrating the appearanceof the same parts in alboot embodying my invention;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view along line 66 of Fig. 2;

F ig. 7 is a sectional view along line 77 of Fig. 3; Y g

Fig. 8 is a sectional view 8-8 of Fig.2; and

Fig. 9 is a sectional view tak 99 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings in detail, A designates the boot comprisingthe footportiona and the leg portion a. In 1 I have illustrated how theboot subject of the present invention bears. on the outside welldefinedmarks delineating the various separate elements from which it ismade up. These demarki'ng lines are indicated by the letter 'a.

n along line i taken along line In Figs. 4 and 5 the outer layerofrubben;

B is shown partially stripped away and folded back from its supportingfabric B. In the process of manufacture the fabric B is usually coatedwith a layer of rubber either by frictioning the rubber into the meshesof the fabric by a calender or by spreading a rubber solution, bothprocesses being we 1 known. After the various layers of such fabric aswell as the various other layers of different materials have. beenplaced in appropriate position the outer vulcanization in the .old waythisinequality made apparent by the haphazard unequal degrees 0 tenacitywith which the various plies adhere in the different portions of theirsurfaces as wellas by the fact that in alboot or shoe made according tothe old processes the adherence of opposed layers, even Where thegreatest hand pressure has been-properly applied, is inferior to thedegree of adherence of the lay- "ers in a boot made according to thepresent invention. In Fig. i'there is illustrated the general appearancepresented on stripping the outer layer of ru her from the support- 10ing layer of fabric in a boot made according to old methods. In thisview the darker shaded portions 6 indicate and fairly represent thesurface appearance where the hand roller has been ap lied in thebuilding operation, while in t e intervening spaces the hand rollereither has not been applied at all, .or inefi'ectually. If a strip ofthe outei layer of rubber be torn away from the sup porting fabric in adirection at right angles to the length of the cufl. of the boot, andtherefore at right angles to the direction of application of the handroller, the strip will give varying resistances. Where the hand rollerhas been effectually applied (as at the portions marked 6) the adhesionwill be very 0d, but the intervening spaces marked 1') will resist thestripping action very little, or I at any rate, to a great y diminisheddegree. In Fig. 5 I have attempted to illustrate the an appearance ofthe inner surfaces after stripping away the outer layer of rubber from aboot embodying m invention. In this case there is practical y novariation in a pearance in the different portions, and su stantiall novariation in actual adherence; but on t e other hand a uniformappearance and a very much improved and substantially uniform adhesion.

Again in Fig. 6 I have illustrated a lining joint in a boot made by theold method, in which, it'will be seen that the double thick. ness ofthe" fabric C at the joint makes an ugly irregularity on the insideaffording a. ready point of engagement from which to initiate separationof the fabric lining from the rubber and thereby shortening the usefulwearing life of the boot, while in Fig. 7, illustratin the lining jointin a boot embod ing t e present invention, the joint is pe ectly smoothon the inside and the irregularity of surface is transferred to theouter surface. In Figs. 8 and 9 there is illustrated the differencebetween a boot embodying my invention and a boot made according tooldmethods particularly as regards the relationship between the insole andthe side wall of the foot portion of the boot. In the latter case theedge of the insole D projects in a lo decided manner while in a bootembodying my invention (Fig. 9) the insole and the a side Wall of theboot come into intimate con tact, the surface of one smoothly continuing the surface of; the. other without break a or surface inequality.

In a word, then, the boot or shoe subject of this application has itswalls compac ed uniformly throughout so that the various plies adhere toeach other with substantially equal tenacity in every portion, theinner-" o surface being perfectly smooth and dEVOId' of irregularitiesor projections resulting from overlapping of plies or differences in thethickness of the wall structure at various points, while these laps andvariations in: wall thickness appear in well defined man ner on theoutside. From this it results that the boot or shoe is equally strong,compact and solid throughout and has no structurally vulnerable portionsas compared with other 3 portions, so that its life of usefulness ismeasured by the inherent strength and wean resisting quality of thearticle as a wholef and not hastened by the breaking dofwribf;

a Weak pointrcsulting from a structural 35 feet, as shown for instancein Figs. '2 and 8 at the thickened portions indicated by b,- which ma bemoisture, dirt and the like to set up c iemical processes acting tohasten deterioration, or, on the other hand, aflording undesirablepoints of engagement from which mechanical disruption of the structureis inevitable.

While I have said that in the boot subject of the prgsent invention theadhesion of the plies is uniform and the same throughout the entiresurface, I do not by this mean that there is absolutely no difference inthe degree of adhesion of any 'ven plies at points widely se arated, butdo mean that if there is a di erence, it develops through regular andinfinitesimal graduations and is, in any; event, only slight. However,it is true t at along any given horizontal plane the adhesion of theplies is of substantially 106 the same tenacity, understanding, ofcourse, that the materials are the same; so that whenI define theinvention in the claims as characterized by the fact that the adhesionbetween opposed-layers along a horizontal 11o lane is of the sametenacity, I mean that itis substantially the same where the materials ofthe plies are the same. If the materials of the, plies at one point of ahorizontal plane vary from the materials at another point in the samehorizontal plane the tenacity of adhesion of one as compared with theother may differ, but in such a case there will be practically novariation in adhesion along a horizontal plane throughout the continuityof identical materials.

What is claimed as new is:

1. A vulcanized rubber boot or shoe com+ posed of rubber and unwrinkledfabric in which the adhesion between opposed layers along a horizontalplane is of the same n i y v 2. A vulcanized rubber boot or shoecompgsed of layers of vulcanized rubber and rousmatcrials in which alayer of rubber" is vulcanized in intimate and continuous contact withits adjacent layer throughout its superficial area. i

3. A vulcanized rubber boot or shoe composed of layers of vulcanizedrubber and fibrous materials in which a layer of rubber is vulcanized inintimate and continuous contact with its ad acent layer throughout itsentire superficial area,- the adhesion between opposed layers along ahorizontal plane being of the same tenacity.

l. A vulcanized rubber boot or shoe composed of layers of vulcanizedrubber and fabric in which a layer of rubber is vulcanized in intimateand continuous contact with its adjacent layers throughout its entiresuperficial area, the inner surface of the boot or shoe bein smooth.

5. A vulcanize rubber boot or shoe composed of layers of vulcanizedrubber and fabric in which a layer of rubber is vulcanized in intimateand continuous contact with an adjacent layer of fabric throughout itssuperficial area.

6. A vulcanized rubber boot or shoe com-' posed of layers of vulcanizedrubber and fabric in which a layer of rubber is vulcanized in intimateand continuous contact with an adjacent layer of fabric throughout itssuperficial area and extends into the interstices of the fabric to thesame extent along a horizontal plane.

Signed this 16th day of October, 1914, at the city, county.and State ofNew York.

RAYMOND B. PRICE. Witnesses:

KENNEDY M. THOMPSON, CLARENCE V. SHINN.

